Matt, a young cabin boy aboard an airship, and Kate, a wealthy young girl traveling with her chaperone, team up to search for the existence of mysterious winged creatures reportedly living hundreds of feet above the Earth's surface.

"Mr. Cruse, how high would you like to fly?" A smile soared across my face. "As high as I possibly can." Pilot-in-training Matt Cruse and Kate de Vries, expert on high-altitude life-forms, are invited aboard the Starclimber, a vessel that literally climbs its way into the cosmos. Before they even set foot aboard the ship, catastrophe strikes: Kate announces she is engaged-and not to Matt. Despite this bombshell, Matt and Kate embark on their journey...

For as long as he can remember, Paul has looked after his younger, weaker brother Sam. But when Sam leaves home to work as a research assistant in Watertown, he disappears into the dark folds of the city's noxious slum. When Paul goes looking for Sam in Watertown, he learns a dark secret: something in the water is changing the residents of Watertown, transforming them into something inhuman. But can Paul reach Sam before the dark waters get to him...

As the sun sets on the time of the dinosaurs, a new world is left in its wake. . . .Dusk He alone can fly and see in the dark, in a colony where being different means being shunned-or worse. As the leader's son, he is protected, but does his future lie among his kin? Carnassial He has the true instincts of a predator, and he is determined that his kind will not only survive but will dominate the world of beasts. From the author of the internationally...

Shade, a young silverwing bat, is searching the countryside for his father when he discovers a huge glass building. When he flies inside, he finds a forest haven where, safe from predatory owls, hundreds of bats are finally living in the sunlight. But when he tries to find an exit, Shade quickly realizes that instead of a paradise, the building is really a prison. From there, bats are taken to laboratories, where they are fitted with bombs and used...

Max is the cook's dog. And because he is also the king's taster, Max gets to feast on French Fries! Rose Pudding! Cheese Pie! Pizza! No wonder Max loves his job. Who wouldn't want to dine on these delicious dishes? The new king, that's who. And if the new king has his way, it won't just be their job that the cook and Max lose!

The first book in a can't-put-it-down, can't-read-it-fast-enough action-thriller trilogy that's part Hatchet, part Little Shop of Horrors! The invasion begins--but not as you'd expect. It begins with rain. Rain that carries seeds. Seeds that sprout--overnight, everywhere. These new plants take over crop fields, twine up houses, burrow below streets. They bloom--and release toxic pollens. They bloom--and form venus-fly-trap like pods that swallow animals...

Other Worlds , the fourth volume in Jon Scieszka's Guys Read anthology series for tween boys, features ten thrilling new tales of science fiction and fantasy from some of the biggest names in children's literature. Prepare yourself for ten trips into the unknown, as ten of your favorite writers -- Rick Riordan, who has written an all-new and exclusive Percy Jackson tale, Tom Angleberger of Origami Yoda fame, Newbery medalist Rebecca Stead, Shannon...